Nazem Kadri credits Randy Carlyle with hot start

Nazem Kadri was interviewed by the Canadian Press on Friday and was asked a number of questions about his hot start.

While praising Randy Carlyle for his open lines of communication with the young Maple Leaf, it was clearly a shot at former Toronto Maple Leaf head coach, Ron Wilson.

“Before I didn’t really get the impression that I was kind of wanted in the lineup or I really deserved the minutes that I may have gotten,” Kadri said following Friday’s practice. “With Randy it’s a whole different ballgame.”

“He makes me feel like I belong here and I can be a big contributor here and I feel like that as well. As a young guy I just needed others to believe in me as well.”

“I’ve had streaks before . . .but I don’t think right off the start I’ve come out like this,” Kadri said.

So can Kadri maintain his torrid pace?

“I’ll see what I can do,” he said with a chuckle.

“He [Carlyle] explains everything he does, even if you don’t get the minutes you want there’s an explanation for it, a reason for it,” Kadri said. “And he’ll come tell you personally, it’s not beating around the bush sending someone else to come preach.

“I just like the communication.”

The noted difference in positivity and the strong team play of the Leafs is credit to Carlyle and his coaching staff. Watching players come up with such relative ease from the AHL to the NHL speaks to the cohesion that Dallas Eakins and Randy Carlyle seem to have and the job they are doing with their young teams.